The real mess is in our University Education System

Prof.P. V. INDIRESAN writes:

• Some deemed universities have also been sponsored by the government, whose credentials are at best doubtful.
• On a personal note, my wife was a UGC nominee to enquire into the accreditation of a college in Rajasthan. That college had given degrees in chemistry for several years without having a single teacher to teach that subject. The labs had been condemned as unfit and had not been repaired. The person who received her in the morning had vanished by the evening because he had been transferred to a “better” college and he wanted to join before the order could be revised — by political pressure. That university remains accredited; that college “functions”.
• Some years ago, a colleague of mine went as Vice-chancellor of a state university and found that it was giving more than 10 times the Ph.Ds produced by IIT Kanpur. He tried his best to bring some discipline but failed; he had to quit. In fact, in many states, the universities have no powers to decide whether to accept a college or not; that is decided by the minister.